A Rose by Any Other Name
by Kioni-chan
Summary: Can those without Heart or existance for that matter have a little heart to heart? Demyx is in the way and Marluxia puts him to work. Rated T for language only.


Summery: Demyx seems either to be in the way or not wanted wherever he goes; until Marluxia finds him that is. Flowers can't grow without water you know. Can heartless Nobodies have a little heart to heart?

Rating: T (shonen-ai hinted an' stuff. Possibly mild language, but by the storyteller mostly…)

Disclaimer: I don't claim to own Kingdom Hearts. I don't even own a rose bush. But muh best friend does. Go Render… (Insert finger twirly here) You and your killer bushes.

ONWARD!

_**A Rose by Any Other Name**_

Demyx hated fighting, he hated arguments, he hated it when people hated each other. Hell, he just plain hated anger, rage, hate, or any form of the emotion. The list just goes on. But then again, Nobodies can't really feel any of these emotions, can they.

But what the Melodious Nocturne hated most was when someone like Saïx hit him and then proceeded to tell him that he couldn't feel pain.

Bullshit.

When Saïx hit him, it hurt… a lot. To hell with no feeling, he knew it was there.

What the water boy couldn't figure out was _why_ Saïx hit him. Why anyone hit him. Maybe it was the sounds he made, the yelps that escaped his lips every time some sort of force was used against him.

But it didn't matter. No one listened to his protests and he wasn't really smart enough to figure his problems out on his own. He'd just keep playing his sitar with a stupid grin plastered across his face.

Speaking of which, said musician was seated in the corner of one of the Organization meeting rooms, plucking at his instrument. It was a happy little tune and obviously, Xemnas wasn't in the mood for happy.

"Demyx, get out!" he snarled as he ran his fingers through his hair for the zillionth time in minutes. The blond looked up, a confused look on his face.

"Huh?"

"Get out!" the Superior seethed as he brought his fists down on the table in a not so gentle way. The Water Nobody jumped and clutched at his sitar. It was a comfort thing.

"But… why?" he whimpered. It was comfortable in his little corner.

"You're annoying me! Get out!" Xemnas all but screamed as he threw a book at Demyx. The usually sad look had disappeared from his face, replaced by one of utter infuriation.

The Melodious one dodged said tome (barely) and scampered for the door. Just as he made it over the threshold, it slammed behind him.

"Hmph…" he muttered indignantly. "He coulda asked nicely… I shoulda jus' stayed in the room and bugged him…"

However, the Nobody hoisted his sitar up off the floor and made his way down the corridor. Maybe he could find another place to play.

Demyx passed many rooms, some filled with terrifying looking experiments, others completely empty. Some were just rooms filled with desks. Shadows of memories fluttered just behind the blonde's vision; memories of desks similar to those, only filled with people. But just as he tried to grasp onto the images, they were gone from his mind. The Nobody tapped his forehead with his palm.

"Imagination acting up again," he whispered.

As he lowered his hand, a flash of red caught his eye. A grin spread across his face. Maybe Axel would let him be nearby. The blond hurried his footsteps and peered into the room that the Flame Nobody had disappeared into. A younger blond sat on one of the tables, giggling as Axel attacked him with his torturous, tickling fingers.

Demyx leaned against the wall just outside the room, staring at the ceiling. Roxas was lucky. He had a friend who really cared about him, who wanted to be around him, and an Other. He had a chance of getting his Heart back. But not poor Demyx. He couldn't even remember his real name.

With a final sigh, the Water Nobody continued on his way, searching for someone to be around. He hated being alone, sometimes even more than violence or anger. He was one of those people who needed to be around others. He felt vulnerable otherwise.

"Demyx…?"

The Melodious Nocturne jumped nearly a foot in the air as a black and pink figure appeared next to him. Marluxia rolled his eyes and placed his hands on his hips.

"Are you spying on Axel and Roxas?" he accused softly. Demyx shook his head furiously.

"No! I was just looking for someone to hang out with! But I can see that he's too busy with Roxas… and Xemnas is mad at me and I'm afraid to go to Saïx 'cause he'll just go berserk and beat me up…" he whimpered. "No one wants me around."

The Graceful Assassin sighed and took the sitar from a protesting Demyx's hands and leaned it against the wall before taking the said Nobody's arm and dragging him down the corridor.

"I have a job for you Water Boy," he said in a sophisticated tone. Demyx protested slightly, attempting to twist out of the other's grip, but to no avail. He was soon dragged outside.

Or was it outside? The sun was shining, birds chirping and the scent of flowers filled the air. But Demyx knew better. Even an idiot such as himself knew that there was no sun in the World That Never Was.

He wandered forward a bit, still staring around at the new environment. Upon closer inspection, he realized that the sky wasn't exactly normal. Occasionally it was jump, as if a television set had been bumped.

"It's all artificial," Marluxia said. "The sun, the sky, even the wind. But the trees, plants, animals… they're all real…"

Demyx turned around and stared at his fellow Organization member.

"But… how?" he mumbled. "I've never been in here!"

Marluxia almost laughed. Almost. He couldn't feel emotion though, and that meant no humor.

"Do you think I'd let an idiot like you in here? I've worked hard to keep it alive… I can't have a moron like you messing that all up…" he murmured as he walked to a nearby rose bush and lifted the blossom to his nose. Demyx walked forward, observing the action, entranced almost. Marluxia looked up and met the other's gaze before grabbing his wrist and pulling him forward. Before he could respond, Demyx had his fingers touching cool rose petals.

"Smell them if you wish. It's a heavenly scent…" the assassin said. The Melodious Nocturne bent forward and inhaled the sweet perfume of the roses. His eyes fluttered shut as his mind wrapped around the new smell.

"Mmm… It _does _smell really nice…" he muttered, trying (and failing) to not make a fool of himself. Marluxia began pulling dead and dying petals and leaves from the plant.

"Yes. Now, help me…"

"Wha…?"

"Do you not see what I'm doing?" the pink haired one said impatiently. "It's called deadheading. You pull off the parts that are turning brown? You see?" he asked as he held up a dried rose. "When you pull them loose, toss them away." He demonstrated this before moving Demyx's hands under his own.

With a little work, the blond got the hang of it. He couldn't move as quickly as Marluxia, but he was very careful about pulling off every dead petal of every bloom.

"Ah!" he suddenly gasped. The pink haired one didn't look up from the plant he was tending to.

"Watch out for the thorns…" he stated in a deadpan voice. Demyx sucked at his wounded finger.

'You coulda told me that a few minutes ago!' he thought angrily. Marluxia sensed the thoughts and actually smiled.

"Call it a learning experience," he whispered. "They're poisonous."

Demyx's jaw dropped as he stared wide-eyed at his tiny puncture. Poisonous? Was he going to die?

"No worries. It's a Heart poison. It only works on humans…" the other explained. Demyx looked up, a confused look on his face.

"Heart poison?"

"Yes… It destroys a human heart. You don't have one. No need to worry," Marluxia said simply. At this statement however, the water Nobody pouted.

"Maybe I do have a Heart. Maybe now you're going to kill me," he whimpered. The one with pink hair shook his head.

"Hardly. You don't have a Heart. Stop worrying about it," he whispered in a cruel voice as he pulled more dead petals free. Demyx let out a sad sigh and also returned to his work, pulling at dead flowers and tossing them into an ever-growing pile at his and Marluxia's feet.

They worked in silence for some time, moving from blossom to blossom and bush to bush, deadheading the plants. Eventually the silence was too much for Demyx.

"Do… do you think your Heart is out there somewhere?" he whispered cautiously. Marluxia's hands paused momentarily as he contemplated the question.

"Perhaps…"

"Do you suppose you have an Other?"

"I don't even remember my real name…"

'That makes two of us…' Demyx thought.

Again, several moments passed in silence as the two worked with the flower blossoms. But, yet again, Demyx couldn't take the silence.

"Why do you want to kill the humans?" he asked carefully. Marluxia answered in a flat yet sophisticated tone.

"Because humans are ignorant creatures. They don't deserve to live," he said. Demyx cocked his head to one side as he held up a dead blossom.

"But everything dies eventually."

"Which is why I'm working on creating a new kind of flower," Marluxia said quietly.

"New kind of flower?" the blond questioned.

"One that never dies. Unlike humans."

"Maybe someone should make a human that never dies," Demyx mumbled. The pink haired one's hands paused.

"Haven't they already?"

"Huh?"

"What are we if not just humans that cannot die? But it doesn't matter. This plant could kill many humans…" the assassin told the other. Demyx's hands paused as well.

"But what if you happened to kill your Other?" he pressed. Marluxia avoided his eyes.

"I will never find my Other…"

"Roxas found Sora…"

"Do not mention that name around me!" the pink haired one suddenly snapped. Demyx blinked.

"Which one?"

"Either!"

The blond decided to change the course of the conversation.

"Do you hate humans because you envy them?" he asked in an unusually quiet voice. Marluxia began to walk to another rose bush.

"Yes…"

"But isn't envy an emotion? That means you feel!" said Demyx as he followed. A grunt escaped from the other.

"Hardly. I only remember what it was like to feel such things. I don't really…" he elucidated in a strange voice. Demyx however could see that Marluxia didn't really feel that way.

"Everyone keeps saying that we don't feel anything…" he said slowly.

"We don't."

"But it hurts when Saïx hits me, it hurt when I pricked myself on that thorn," Demyx went on. Marluxia did his best to explain this all away.

"Pain is not an emotion. Physical feelings don't count… Even you should know that…"

The flaxen haired one ignored the slight insult and pressed on.

"Even you said that you hate humans. Hatred is an emotion last time I checked. Xemnas is looking for Hearts to fill himself with anger, rage and all that stuff—"

"Demyx, shut up!" Marluxia interrupted. "You're an idiot and don't know anything!"

The younger was slightly hurt by this statement. Or maybe slightly would be the wrong word for it. The Graceful Assassin had his back to the Melodious Nocturne and was shaking slightly. Said instrumentalist's lower lip trembled and his eyes glistened.

"I do too know stuff! I just—"

"No you don't! J-just shut up!" Marluxia snapped as he spun around on his heel. "You're an idiot! You don't know what the Organization is for, you can't fight and you get in the way wherever you go!" Demyx's lower lip stuck out a bit as he glared at the higher ranked Nobody.

"Fine! I'll leave!" With that he turned around and took off for the door. He half expected Marluxia to call after him but wasn't disappointed when the other did not.

The water boy ran down the corridors, wiping angry tears from his eyes and looking for someplace to hide. Finally he found it; an empty room filled with shadows that spread across the ceiling. He pushed the door the rest of the way open and entered before making his way to a dark corner, in which he curled up and faced the wall, glaring a hole in it.

"S-so what if I'm not as smart as the others? It doesn't mean that I'm useless!" he told the air. "I'm not an idiot…"

"Yes you are…" a voice whispered as a pair of arms snaked their way around his shoulders. Demyx yelped and jumped as he attempted to spin around, but Marluxia held him in place.

"Shh… It's okay…"

"I-I didn't hear you coming!"

"Graceful Assassin?"

"Oh… Right…" the blond mumbled. Marluxia chuckled into his ear and loosened his arms as Demyx relaxed against his chest.

"Listen… I'm sorry for what I said…"

"No, you're not."

"No, I really am… Of the lot of us, you try to have fun in whatever you do. Maybe we should all take a leaf out of your book…" the flower boy said quietly. Demyx wrinkled his nose in confusion.

"Books don't have leaves…" he pointed out. A sigh met his ears.

"It's a figure of speech…"

"Oh…"

Marluxia pulled the Nobody to his feet and smiled at him.

"Will you help me finish with my roses?"

Demyx nodded and followed Marluxia to the door. As the two made their way back to the Garden Room, the blond whistled a happy tune and Marluxia didn't protest. As they entered among the roses, the younger spoke up again.

"Y'know… Flowers can't live without water."

"This is why I dragged you along."

"It wasn't to keep me out of Xemnas' hair?"

"Alright… that too…"

Demyx let out a giggle and sunk to his knees, placing his hand over the dirt. Slowly water began to ebb between his fingers and into the soil. Marluxia stood back and watched with a soft expression as the blond watered his beautiful plants. It was true. Flowers couldn't survive without Water.

_**FIN**_

Okay, so it wasn't really my best story ever… I just… have to thank Render… 'Cept I got yelled at for earwigs… (Don't ask. Inside thing)


End file.
